Australians should get 10 cents for every cane toad they kill this summer, according to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
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In a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the senator has argued the bounty could help curb the invasive species whose poisonous toxin kills some native animals.
"As Queensland and neighbouring states go through our summer months, a further explosion of cane toads are hatching, adding to the estimated 200 million already here in Australia," Senator Hanson wrote.
Cane toads have had a huge impact on native animals since being introduced from Hawaii in 1935 in a failed bid to eradicate beetles infesting sugar cane and spreading across most of northern Australia.
Their toxins make them deadly to lizards, quolls, dingoes and crocodiles which eat them.
Senator Hanson said federal parliament must devise a bipartisan approach to eradicating the species, noting a $2 million investment in cane toad research in 2008 has not produced a solution.
In the meantime, a three-month cane toad collection reward scheme could help keep the toads at bay, she said.
"A 10 cent reward for the collection of each cane toad, I believe would encourage most Australians living with the pest to take an active role in reducing their numbers until a biological measure is developed."
But Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is not so sure, telling radio 2GB on Wednesday that Senator Hanson was trying to "grab a bit of attention for One Nation".
Reflecting on his time as environment minister, now-Health Minister Greg Hunt said a "very strong approach" was needed when it came to the amphibians.
"Ultimately, what we're going to need is programs that are going to stop the breeding of cane toads on a scale of millions," Mr Hunt told reporters.
Senator Hanson believes children should put down their iPads and join the effort and Australians receiving welfare payments should help too.
An upcoming parliamentary inquiry into the pest should also be held in up north, rather than the nation's capital, she has argued.
"As far as I know there's no cane toads in Canberra yet. Get the inquiry up in Queensland, get the real people who know what to do about this," she told Nine's Today.
Australian Associated Press
